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The tour to the historic Milwaukee was filled with a lot of fun since the place had a lot to offer. The historic town of Milwaukee was full with a copious array of historical anecdotes, artifacts and architecture among others. The town is privileged to have both new and historical architectural styles that pepper`s her horizon. The ancient European style town meets the modern charm at numerous intersections of the city (A Walk in the City p12). Walking along the eye catching architecture of the city, Milwaukee’s heritage is a thing of its class. Its legacy lingered with us, regardless of our stand. The Historic Milwaukee Inc. offered a plethora of walking trip, a trip that took two and a half hours. This vividly brought a picture of the past Milwaukee and its neighborhoods to reality in our minds. The town is full of both new and old architecture, some of which are reflections of the town’s ancient German influence (Zimmermann, p136).
While entering the town, the first place that attracted our attention was the Milwaukee City Hall, 200 East Wells Street, H. C. Koch and Company, 1895. This has been the tallest habitable building in the world for more than four years after completion between 1895and 1899. In addition, it was tallest building in Milwaukee for nearly 80 years. The building is visible as many miles away southwards, in spite of the tall buildings that are obstructing the horizon. It is visible even to those who are driving from Chicago. If you are the kind of person that cannot get up that early, don’t frets, Milwaukee have a lot to benefit you? There are innumerable spots to tour in the afternoon as well. You will be able to see the tower if you are coming to town from Chicago or coming in from the airport. In many occasions, at around mid-day on Saturdays, you could explore the Old World 3rd Street’s "German Heritage" (A Walk in the City p16). This serves as one of the outstanding areas to check out for the real-time history of the "Historic Third Ward”. As well, you could still visit the place and encounter Milwaukee’s North Point Water Tower, which is just a few miles from Frederick C. Bogk House (Korom, p32).
Santiago Calatrava, which is the addition to The Art Museum of Milwaukee, serves as one of the outstanding landmarks of the city. With its unique design, the artefact serves as one of the most visited hotspots in the town. From the Calatrava, we decided to take a meander northwards along the Lincoln Memorial Drive to view some scenic landmarks. The landmarks along this route are Lake Michigan, Hotel Metro, Iron Block, Railway Exchange Building, Grain Exchange Building and Wisconsin Gas Building (Zimmermann, p154). The Hilton City Hotel of Milwaukee is a display of the Old Milwaukee architecture. In addition, the Hotel Metro was scenery of the Old Milwaukee’s architecture that we didn’t miss on during our tour. The lobby, we could see admirable artworks and some detailed artworks. We didn’t forget to visit some of the famous churches in Milwaukee such as St. John’s Cathedral, which is at the corner of Wells and Jackson Street. The church offered a vast cathedral square where people relaxed while listening to the soft playing jazz.
The Wisconsin Center is another building that completes the architecture of the town. The center was constructed with a 1300 eight-ton pre-cast concrete blocks, built in a modern architectural style (Historic Third Ward, p35). During our tour, we also took an indoor walk in the Public Museum of Milwaukee, along its magnificent streets of Old Milwaukee exhibition. The tour to the Milwaukee town was such a real time exposure and fun. Thanks to the Historic Milwaukee Inc., the management that lowered the tour fees for the students like us to a cost of $2. The two and a half hour tour offered a lot to us. We had fun that was more than the value and time.
Works Cited
A Walk in the City: A Historical Walking Tour of Milwaukee's West Side. Milwaukee: Libraries for Milwaukee, 1981. Print.
A Walk in the City: A Historical Walking Tour of Milwaukee's South Side. Milwaukee: Libraries for Milwaukee, 1982. Print.
Historic Third Ward: An Architectural and Historical Walking Tour of Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Milwaukee, Wis.: Wisconsin Heritages, 1980. Print.
Koror, Joseph J. Milwaukee Architecture: A Guide to Notable Buildings. Madison, Wis: Prairie Oak Press, 1995. Print.
Zimmermann, H R. The Heritage Guidebook: Landmarks and Historical Sites in Southeastern Wisconsin: Historically And/or Architecturally Significant Buildings, Monuments, and Sites in Five Southeastern Wisconsin Counties. Milwaukee: Heritage Banks, Inland Heritage Corp, 1976. Print.
